


In Related News

by Bam4Me



Series: Statistically Incorrect [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Bucky and Steve were both in the plane when it went down, Daddy!Happy, Daddy!Rhodey, Daddy!Steve, Everyone but Steve and Rhodey in the Avengers is a little, First of a series, Gen, Little!Bruce, Little!Bucky - Freeform, Little!Darcy, Little!Tony, Littles Are Known, No Avengers Movie even, No Ultron, Non-Sexual Age Play, This is just happy feels and fluff and goodness okay take it, daddy!Phil, little!Clint, little!Natasha, little!Thor, little!peter, mommy!Laura, mommy!Pepper, mommy!jane, no civil war, not movie compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 21:04:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11586165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bam4Me/pseuds/Bam4Me
Summary: Steve and Bucky were told when they were still in the war, that littles presentation numbers were dropping like flies. They were told that by the time the year 2000 rolled around, there wouldn't be any left. That they were a dying breed.There has never been a more incorrect statement before.





	In Related News

**Author's Note:**

> Idea for this fic: 1. Steve, Phil and Rhodey being the only Bigs on the Avengers team so they're constantly in charge of a bunch of smol babies who need attention, and also it's very cute and cuddly and no one can tame the babies. Good? Good. 2. During wartime, presentations for littles and pets dropped like HELLA because of widespread panic. The numbers eventually went WAY back up when the war was over but Steve and Bucky crashed thinking that littles were all dying off and there wouldn't be any left in the future. BUT, as it turns out, the longer you go without war, the more littles presenting in society, to the point where war is kinda non-existent at this point cause so many littles to take care of who gives a fuck about oil when you can cuddle a baby?????? Of course it still exists, and there's still need for heros and stuff, but yeah; whatever.
> 
> avengersnonsexualageplay.tumblr.com

There were many things that Steve and Bucky expected of the year two thousand and seven. Flying cars, modernized medicine available for all, a time of peace and prosperity. None of these are exactly…  _ true _ , but they’re not all that wrong either. Except flying cars, that’s still, unfortunately, not a thing.

 

One thing you can say for sure they  _ didn’t _ expect about the year two thousand and seven… was living to see it. They didn’t expect the plane crash and to be frozen in time for seventy years. They didn’t expect to be found so far into the future that nothing is recognizable to them. They didn’t expect to have to move on in a world full modern people with a new way of speaking and looking at things.

 

And yet, though they both felt that pang of loss, all they could do was cling to each other and hope things went well.

 

There was another thing neither of them expected...

 

***

 

They’ve been here for almost five days now. Steve and Bucky were veritably in shock for the first three, while people worked on getting them caught up to the future, but now that they’re actually trying to socialize themselves with the new world around them, Steve notices a lot of differences.

 

He was sitting in a lab while a doctor hooked him up to some machine. They were still trying to make sure Steve and Bucky were fully functional and safe now, and Steve honestly wanted to punch someone in the face and yell that he’s fine, and to stop poking at him, but… if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to justify forcing Bucky to sit still for his own check ups. Steve couldn’t help himself, he was a caregiver, he needed to make sure his little was okay.

 

He winced when a needle went into his arm, injecting him faster than he could blink and pulled back out. The first time they had tried to give him the contrast shot for the CAT scan, the IV they had put in him had broken off under his skin before he was fully injected, and they’d had to cut it out of him. He didn’t relish the idea of repeating that incident, but the doctors have thankfully gotten good at fast injections if they think he needs them.

 

“I… I’ve uh, noticed…” Steve trailed off, not sure where to start, or even where he was going with this actually. The doctor raised an eyebrow at him, putting the needle in the proper disposal bin and Steve tried again. “Uh… back during the war… something weird happened.”

 

She nodded for him to go on. “Something to do with the serum?”

 

Steve shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. Seventy years really does make a difference. “No, it… birthrates started… the presentation rates for littles…” He trailed off, honestly not sure where to go with that, and the woman was giving him a funny look, confused, before another man in the room stood up, looking like he knew what Steve was getting at.

 

“During both World War II and I, presentation rates for littles went down almost seventy percent.”

 

Steve nodded, face a little red. “They said that they were all dying out, that by this century, there wouldn’t be any at all.”

 

The man shook his head, and Steve tried to remember his name. Banner? Yeah. “No, thing is, that was a normal dropping point for presentation of teenagers to littles, because of the fear rate.”

 

“The fear rate?”

 

Banner nodded. “Take Bucky for example. He was a little, but he didn’t stay at home during the war, did he? He enlisted.”

 

Steve nodded. “He wanted to be there. We both did.”

 

Banner smiled a little. “And there’s nothing wrong with that, but still, the war itself created a fear reaction. Instead of widespread panic, the natural reaction for littles when confronted with fear, is to be big. I dunno, unless it’s like a spider or something, I hate those things, if I see one while I’m little I just start crying, but if I’m faced with some guy that wants me dead, my reaction is to be big and defend myself. It’s why littles make such good heros.”

 

Steve blinked at the man a few times. “You’re a little?”

 

Banner nodded. “Yes.”

 

“And you have a full time job?”

 

Banner made a so-so nod with his head. “Uh, sort of. I’m really just here as a consultant. I normally live in Stark Tower where I have a lab there.”

 

Steve cocked his head to the side, looking the man up and down. He didn’t wear anything that gave him away. No bright colours or overalls, no cute logos on his clothes, no, he looked rather professional in a button down shirt and slacks. The one little that Steve and Bucky had met so far in SHIELD headquarters was a spy named Clint, and he had been wearing bright purple overalls with green rainboots. He had been  _ obvious. _ Outside of wartime, littles working was pretty much unheard of back in his day. It’s… strange. “Littles make good heros?”

 

He knew that already, of course, Bucky,  _ his _ little boy, was an amazing hero, and Steve looked up to him greatly, but… people actually  _ recognizing _ littles for being heros? That’s… new. And good. Very good.

 

Banner nodded again. “Of course… I can show you the national presentation records for littles around that time period if you want. It’s not that no one  _ presented _ as little, it’s that most of them all presented later than they should have because of the fear rate.”

 

Steve nodded, a hesitant smile on his face. “I’d like that, a lot.”

 

Banner went back to the lab table he’d been sitting at and pulled out one of those Stark tablets he’s seen so many people using. Steve thinks that Howard’s son must have really taken after his father. Speaking of. “You live at Stark Tower? With… um, Anthony?”

 

He still hasn’t had the chance to meet him yet, but everywhere he goes he sees something with the SI logo on it, something with Stark’s name on it. Sometimes he’d be sitting in the canteen in the morning and hear two agents talking about the latest thing Stark was making for R&D. 

 

He was curious. The fact that the internet said that Tony Stark was the most powerful littles in the world? He’s sure that had nothing to do with that.

 

Banner gave him a funny look like he knew exactly what Steve was getting at, but he seemed to let him have it as he handed over the tablet.

 

“Yeah. He’s going to be in town tomorrow. He could have a playdate with Bucky, I’m sure the two of them would get along great.”

 

Steve smiled a little nervously, nodding. He hoped they got along.

 

***

 

The next week Banner had shown up with Clint -the little with bad taste in colours who was right now wearing a bright yellow tee shirt with the ugliest duck face ever on it, Steve was noticing a pattern here- in the canteen just after they were getting done with breakfast, and took the seats across from them.

 

“I talked to Tony and he wants to meet you two for a playdate, but he won’t do it here because he does trust SHIELD, so he’s sending a car to pick us all up in half an hour, I’m sorry that this has to be your first real outing from SHIELD headquarters but I couldn’t talk him out of it.”

 

Bucky and Steve looked at each other for a minute, and Bucky gave Steve a shy little smile. Steve could tell he was pretty deep in headspace right now, since Steve has been encouraging it since last night in preparation for a playdate but he just looked so sweet right now it was all Steve could do not to melt. “Playdate, Daddy?”

 

Steve sighed, leaning in so he could nuzzle at Bucky’s soft hair, giving him little kisses. “Yup, playdate, but we gotta make sure you’re all ready to go, right buddy?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

When the two of them were ready to go they made their way down to the parking lot where the car was already waiting for them.

 

Bruce was sitting up in the front of the car, talking to the driver with quiet voices, and Steve buckled up his squirming little in the back with Clint.

 

“Tony texted me and said he called all the others in the Avengers team, you know, the team that Fury said he wanted to put you two on if you decide to work here, and they’re all there already. It’s gonna be so much fun!”

 

Steve hummed a little while he got himself buckled into the seat and turned to face the front. “That’s nice, Clint. Who’s Bruce talking to?”

 

Clint grinned. “That’s Happy! He’s Bruce’s daddy, and he’s the best! He’s married to Auntie Pepper.”

 

Okay, today was going to be fun.

 

***

 

The playroom on the communal floor of Stark Tower was utter chaos. Bucky was worriedly clutching onto the edge of Steve’s shirt as they watched them all run around like a bunch of hellions.

 

There was a little that Steve was  _ sure _ couldn’t even be a legal adult yet, sitting in front of a squabbling Clint and Natasha, who were arguing over who could make him giggle more. Steve and Bucky had finally got a look of the elusive Tony Stark, who was currently hiding in his daddy’s neck because of too many people and also, Stranger Danger™.

 

Steve sat down on one of the playmats when Bucky started trying to climb up him like Tony had done to General Rhodes, pulling the little to snuggle down into his lap.

 

Okay, so apparently, littles really  _ did _ make good superheros, but that didn’t mean they weren’t the chaotic bunch of people that Steve had always known littles in groups could be. Children, in general, were just plain loud.

 

That was oddly comforting.

 

The little that was young enough for Steve to question his age -and  _ why _ he would be in the Avengers at all, because that sounds like a bad idea- managed to escape from Clint and Natasha when Clint decided he wanted to play dress up, and made his way over to Steve and Bucky. Bucky didn’t tense up in his arms, but he did grab onto Steve’s hand to start fiddling with his fingers.

 

“Tony is shy.”

 

Steve cocked his head to the side when the little boy spoke, before seeing that Bucky and him were both looking at him now. “Uh, yes, I can see that. He doesn’t like strangers, does he?”

 

The boy shook his head. “No. He says strangers is ick. It’s lucky he’s even little at all, but I guess he feels safer with his daddy. Bruce is shy too.”

 

Steve looked over to where Bruce was sitting on a couch next to the giant man people have told him is apparently a demi-god. Steve nodded, turning back to the teen, who was scowling at him like it was  _ his _ fault. “I… I’m sorry?”

 

His cute little pout was all accusatory and upset, but Steve was having a hard time taking him seriously with how his nose scrunched up all adorably like that. “Bruce is my friend, and he’s shy. Tony is shy too, I get stuck playing with Clint and Tasha cause they’s not so shy. Hmmph.”

 

Steve made a little noise of realization and looked down at Bucky, who was giving the kid a grin. “That is a terrible dilemma, but maybe Bucky can help?”

 

The little stared at Bucky for a long time before shrugging. “I’m Peter.”

 

“I’m Bucky, I’m a big boy.”

 

Steve couldn’t help the little grin on his face at that. Bucky was  _ really _ trying to impress Peter if he was pulling the ‘big boy’ card. Peter shrugged though. Peter obviously wasn’t all that big, and looking at Tony, who he says he  _ normally _ plays with, Tony isn’t that big either, so Bruce probably ran in a younger age circle too. But Bucky was always eager to play with babies. Even Bucky couldn’t resist a cute face.

 

He watched Bucky scramble out of Steve’s lap and after Peter, who brought them over to the toy chest to look for something to play with, and Steve was startled when someone sat down next to him on the carpet, looking after the two of them with a grin.

 

“I see you’ve met our friendly neighborhood Spiderman.”

 

Steve turned to look at Phil -Clint and Natasha’s daddy, from what he remembers- with a raised eyebrow. “That’s Spiderman?”

 

Phil nodded with a little grin. “Yeah. He’s a bit young, and he’s not an actual Avenger, but the team keeps him on retainer for his abilities.”

 

“...which include shooting webs at things, right?”

 

“And extremely high super strength.”

 

Steve looked between Phil and the kid again. “He’s like… a little twig.”

 

“Stronger than you, Cap.”

 

Steve snorted, turning back to watching them with an amused smile. “I get Bruce being nervous around new people, but Thor seems to love new people, what’s his deal on being big right now?”

 

Phil looked over to where Thor was talking with Bruce. “He… Asgardians are a little different than humans. I don’t think their society is much like ours. He says people on his planet don’t… they don’t identify as big or little or pets or owners or anything like that. It’s weird.”

 

“Oh, so he’s not a little at all? I just assumed he was from what I heard.”

 

Phil shook his head. “No he sort of is a little. Well, sort of half little, half puppy. But because of the difference he says it’s just not as fun being little without his mommy and big sister around.”

 

Steve shook his head. That was a weird thought to take in, but okay. He looked over to where Tony was sitting in Rhodes’s lap on a big rocking armchair now, sort of peeking out at all of them with big eyes, but not much moving to interact with any of them.

 

“And Tony? I… I sort of assumed asking us to come over for a playdate meant he wanted to meet us.”

 

Phil looked at him like he was a little slow. “This  _ is _ him meeting you. He’s shy though. Nervous.”

 

“But he’s fully in headspace. I would have assumed if he wasn’t comfortable he’d be out of it.”

 

Phil shook his head. “Listen, being a public figure is a bit tough, especially for a man who’s been in a gay, interracial couple since he was a teenager, Tony’s learned to be little even when he  _ is _ scared, even though that goes against a lot of instincts. It’s sort of… expected of him.”

 

“That’s terrible.”

 

Phil nodded. “When I babysat Tony for the first time, he spent the majority of the day hiding behind a blanket. Apparently, it’s his way of getting to know you.”

 

Steve had to admit, that was terribly cute.

 

He had the feeling he might like it here. Just a little bit.

**Author's Note:**

> avengersnonsexualageplay.tumblr.com


End file.
